NiceHCK C8 IEM cables

NiceHCK C8s IEM cables

Cables for earphones are just as important if not more so than the tips you use on your favorites. Beyond the debate whether cables do anything for the sound properties of your earphones. Truth is most audio players nowadays include some type of balanced out, promising some type of sonic improvement from the balanced ended output of said players. More power, more dynamics, more expansion of stage ultimately more of why you listen to music.

So why would you not want to experiment with using them balanced out of your players? What you need now is a new balanced cable so you can try out that balanced out. Now you're looking at reviews and posts from your favorite earphone threads about cables.

You can’t just get any cables for your favorites you have to get the best for what you can afford right? NiceHCK has been making affordable aftermarket cables for a good while now and the advantage there is your getting some really nicely made cables from the HCK group that isn’t gonna cost you a lot. If you are limited in your income and or are just dabbing with cable upgrades the HCK group and their offerings are a great start. It will give you a cable you're gonna need for your favorites but won’t cost a lot to try them.

Today we are taking a look at the C8s group of cables from NiceHCK C8s-1, C8s-2,C8s-3, C8s-4 and all of them are made the exact same way using the same silver coated copper cables. The only real difference between these are how they are colored. Ask your significant other about color matching and that is really what these cables are about.

I would like to thank Jim at NiceHCK for the review samples. You can click on each model and it will take you to their pages being sold on NiceHCK web site on aliexpress. They are currently being sold for the very meager price of $25.99-$28.99 so what does the price of a decent dinner plate get you in cable land? How's about a cable that is much better in terms of build and usability than what you get out of the box from your earphones.

In carefully inspecting these cables you're not getting a different model of cable here you're getting 8 cores of the their staple 16 core SPC cables the C-16, S-16, H-16 cables which I did a review for here. The question is if you're using 8 cores less of a 16 core cable does that change up the sonic ability for the host earphone? The simple answer to that is no. Not really. In fact I actually tried going back and forth from their C16 cables vs the C8s and there is really not much in the way of clear audible differences. The 16 cored version does seem to have a slight advantage of fuller tone and a very slight expansion of stage but is very subtle vs the 8 cored variants, otherwise they are identical in what they do.

My friendly advice would be to save yourself a bit of money and get the 8 cored version instead of the 16 cored version well that is unless you like your cables thicker. All of the C8s cables seem to be exactly the same material. Silver coated copper cables. The idea of adding a silver coating to copper is it brings better resolution properties added to a warmer copper foundation. So a hybrid of sorts. The S8s will be one upgrade better than whatever your earphone manufacturers throw in them budget to mid tiered earphones.

NiceHCK does not advertise the cables being of some type of high end purity nor are they of some exotic materials. They again are all SPC cables with PVC coatings. They make for great balanced cables for your earphones no matter what termination you need. Soft supple, never stiff and has solid strain reliefs, chin sliders all metal connectors. The cables uses some thinner cores so they are very soft and if I was to nit pick. The amount of material they are using is a bit on the skimpy side. I have 4 cored cables that uses more material. Their 16 cored variant is more like a standard 8 core in material thickness and their 8 cored version which I am writing about here is more equivalent to a thicker 4 cored variant in material thickness.

I recently paired up these cables with some of my earphones and here was the results. In general these cables do a good job not to color the sound of the host earphone. Meaning they have a good solid foundation for a natural smooth yet transparent take on your host earphone sonics. They aren’t as technical as a pure silver cable nor do they cast a warm hugh like pure copper cables. They also don’t add a noticeable amount of fuller note weight or do they expand the stage with added detail as much as some cables in the price range. Ultimately resulting in a natural non colored effect to the host earphone.

Its foundation is pure copper which leans more toward a natural tone for all earphones and with that silver coating adding a slight cooler tone with a hint of stage expansion to most phones otherwise. This cable is more about ergonomics and looks more so than enhancing tonally to your earphones.

There is not enough silver content to brighten the tonality of earphones these are attached to so it is leaning more toward a natural smooth tone, so your earphones are gonna sound like your earphones. These cables will match up well with phones you love the sounds from and don’t want to change up the sonic balancing and overall sound design of the host earphones they are attached to. Not all cables are about enhancing this or that. The C8 cables are all about presenting the sound as they are. Now if you're coming from the cheap thin throw in cable. Then yes these will obviously be an upgrade and will present with a minor bump in a fuller note weight. However, if you're coming from a decent 4 to 8 core cable that many manufacturers will throw in with their offerings. These will be more ideal just to get a bit more sonically from your balanced set ups on your DAPs.

Overall for the asking price the C8 cables while does nothing special to your earphone sounds. Does not take away anything you find special about your earphone sound in the process. Leaning towards a smoother neutral slightly cooler in tonality, the cable is ideal for folks that just want a bit of an upgrade from the standard throw in cable. Good looks, excellent soft build and solid value is what these cables are about. Thanks for reading and happy listening always.